Where E-commerce and Website Design Meet Up
It’s a bit like the chicken and the egg…when it comes to e-commerce website development what should come first, website design or build?
All too often the crucial functionality of an e-commerce website is pushed to the side to make way for a pretty design. And of course, that’s important. The way your website looks, how it captures the attention of your visitors, and the way it represents your brand all play a key part in how well your website performs.
But all of that will fall by the wayside if your backend isn’t up to scratch. Your sales won’t be the only thing at risk, your reputation will be too, which can be hugely damaging and difficult to bounce back from.
Build a website that sells
Catching the attention of your customer is only the first part of the process, holding on to them through every stage of the selling journey is the thing that differentiates between a website that looks good and a website that sells.
The user experience should be at the heart of your site – after all, your offering should play to your customers and their needs, not your own! – and this is where so many businesses fail early on. If you want to build a successful e-commerce website, you will need a reliable e-commerce web design company to help your site include all of the key points below.
- Ensure easy navigation so your customers can find their way around.
Helpful links to landing pages can work well but don’t confuse your customer. Design priorities will often have an impact on navigation so keep this in mind from the start. - Include additional features that make buying easy.
Simple ‘click-to-buy’ links will help to make the purchasing journey seamless. Tools that highlight purchasing recommendations will encourage upselling, and links to ‘previous orders’ can promote return customers. - Use pre-launch testing to iron out technical glitches.
It only takes a very minor technical glitch to encourage a customer to abandon a shopping cart. Pre-launch testing will ensure you have a failsafe platform from the start, and consistent monitoring will keep it that way. - Make sure it is accessible on different devices.
These days customers want to access e-commerce websites wherever they are at any given time, so make sure your website is built for mobiles and tablets as well as PCs – as pretty as it might look on a desktop, if it doesn’t function on a mobile, you’re losing sales. - Take steps to avoid the wheel of doom. Customers don’t want to wait for websites to upload and they’ll soon move on. Consider this at the very start of your website build and use a host that can cope with your website demands while keeping your software up to date.
Finding the sweet spot between functionality and design
There are 2 main options if you want to ensure your e-commerce functionality meets up with your website design; either work with an E-commerce website development company that understands web design, build and software development (that’s all three!), or bring both parties together at the very early stages of planning.
There are many IT companies that will promise the world when it comes to website design and development, but far fewer that are able to carry out the job properly. It’s important you have a detailed conversation with your website designers at the start to ascertain exactly what it is they can offer and what their service includes. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!
Trying to fix website issues after an e-commerce site has been built can be complex, frustrating, time-consuming and costly. We know because often we get called in at this stage to help fix problems that haven’t been considered at an early stage. To avoid these unnecessary costs feel free to get in touch with our e-commerce website development team, even if it’s just for a few friendly pointers – we’ll gladly offer up some advice we’ve learnt along the way.